Kochi metro inaugurated in India

The metro of Kochi in India has been inaugurated in the presence of the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.

This is part the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ campaign (which was launched in 2014), with the Alstom-built metros being the first to have been entirely designed in Bangalore and manufactured at Sri City in India.

“The Kochi metro reaffirms our strong commitment and endorsement of the government’s ‘Make in India’ vision,” said Mr. Bharat Salhotra, Managing Director, Alstom in India and South Asia. “It reinforces our goal to being the preferred partner of cities, countries and operators to answer their mobility needs as a turnkey solution provider. This is an exciting day for us and we are proud to be associated with this project.”

Each Metropolis train delivered to Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) will be able to carry up to 975 passengers and provide 136 seats, with wide gangways and longitudinal seating arrangements allowing passengers to walk from one end of the train to the other, optimising transport capacity and facilitating easy boarding.

As the first Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC)-based metro in India, the Urbalis 400 will precisely control the movement of trains, allowing more vehicles to safely run on the line at much higher speeds. Alstom has also provided the telecom solution, with a third rail-based 750VDC power supply solution along with the associated SCADA system.

“Since Alstom was our solution provider for a number of the metro’s components like rolling stock, signalling, traction and telecommunication, project execution became a smooth process,” added Elias George, Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Limited.

The trains are also fitted with air conditioning, real time passenger information systems, CCTV, a fire and smoke detection system and multiple USB charging points for mobiles – the latter of which is a first for metros in India.